Multi-agent system for on-demand production integrating production and quality control

Multi-agent systems is being pointed as particularly suited to design and engineer a new class of control systems to operate at the factory plants addressing the current requirements of modularity, flexibility and re-configurability. This paper introduces the main principles of a multi-agent system approach to support the integration of production and quality control processes in washing machines production lines that is being developed under the EU FP7 GRACE project

GRACE ontology integrating process and quality control

Multi-agent systems paradigm is a suitable approach to implement distributed manufacturing systems addressing the emergent requirements of flexibility, robustness and responsiveness. In such systems, an ontology is a crucial piece to provide a common understanding on the vocabulary used by the intelligent, distributed agents during the exchange of shared knowledge. This paper describes the design of an ontology to define the structure of the knowledge that is used within a multi-agent system integrating process and quality control in production lines for home appliances, which is being developed within the EU FP7 GRACE (inteGration of pRocess and quAlity Control using multi-agEnt technology) project. The ontology schema is validated by instantiating for a case study derived from a washing machines production line

Adaptive multi-agent system for a washing machine production line

This paper describes the implementation of a multi-agent system in a real industrial washing machine production line aiming to integrate process and quality control, allowing the establishment of feedback control loops to support adaptation facing condition changes. For this purpose, the agent-based solution was implemented using the JADE framework, being the shared knowledge structured using a proper ontology, edited and validated in Protégé and posteriorly integrated in the multi-agent system. The solution was intensively tested using historical real production data and it is now being installed in the real production line. The preliminary results confirm the initial expectations in terms of improvement of process performance and product quality

Multi-agent system for integrating quality and process control in a home appliance production line

A current trend in manufacturing is the deployment of modular, distributed and intelligent control systems that introduce adaptation facing unexpected deviations and failures, namely in terms of production conditions and product demand fluctuation. The integration of quality and process control allows the implementation of dynamic self-adaptation procedures and feedback control loops to address a large variety of disturbances and changes in process parameters and variables, aiming to improve the production efficiency and the product quality. Multi-agent systems (MAS) technology (Wooldridge 2002)(Leitão et al. 2013) is suitable to face this challenge, offering an alternative way to design these adaptive systems, based on the decentralization of functions over distributed autonomous and cooperative agents, providing modularity, flexibility, adaptation and robustness. In spite of the potential benefits of the MAS technology, the number of deployed agent-based solutions in industrial environments, reported in the literature, are few, as illustrated in (Leitão et al. 2013) [colocar aqui referencia ao Pechoucek & Marik]. This chapter describes the development, installation and operation of a multi-agent system, designated as GRACE, integrating quality and process control to operate in a real home appliance production line, producing laundry washing machines, owned by Whirlpool and located in Naples, Italy. The use of the MAS technology acts as the intelligent and distributed infra-structure to support the implementation of real-time monitoring and feedback control loops that apply dynamic self-adaptation and optimization mechanisms to adjust the process and product variables. The agent-based solution was developed using the JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework) framework and successfully installed in the industrial factory plant, contributing for demonstrating the effective applicability and benefits of the MAS technology, namely in terms of production efficiency and product quality.This work has been partly financed by the EU Commission, within the research contract GRACE coordinated by Univ. Politecnica delle Marche and having partners SINTEF, AEA srl, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Whirlpool Europe srl, Siemens AG.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Capacity Planning Simulation Model for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

Important objectives and challenges in today’s manufacturing environment include the introduction of new products and the designing and developing of reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The objective of this research is to investigate and support the reconfigurability of a manufacturing system in terms of scalability by applying a discrete-event simulation modelling technique integrated with flexible capacity control functions and communication rules for re-scaling process. Moreover, the possible extension of integrating the discrete-event simulation with an agent-based model is presented as a framework. The benefits of this framework are collaborative decision making using agents for flexible reaction to system changes and system performance improvement. AnyLogic multi-method simulation modelling platform is utilized to design and create different simulation modelling scenarios. The developed capacity planning simulation model results are demonstrated in terms of a case study using the configurable assembly Learning Factory (iFactory) in the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) Center at the University of Windsor. The main benefit of developed capacity planning simulation in comparison to traditional discrete-event simulation is, with a single simulation run, the recommended capacity for manufacturing system will be determined instead of running several discrete-event simulation models to find the needed capacity

Uma nova abordagem para a implementação de um sistema multiagente para a configuração e o monitoramento da produção de pequenas séries

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Automação e Sistemas, Florianópolis, 2014A Produção de Pequenas Séries (PPS) é um tipo de manufatura caracterizado pela alta diversidade de produtos a serem produzidos associada a tamanhos de lotes reduzidos - possivelmente unitários. Neste sistema de produção as tecnologias empregadas para configuração e monitoramento do processo devem priorizar a produção sem defeitos, inclusive no primeiro item do lote, que pode ser o único. Falhas neste sistema de produção ou defeitos inseridos nos produtos facilmente inviabilizam economicamente todo o lote. Neste contexto, a linha de produção deve ser capaz de efetuar uma troca rápida de configuração para produzir um novo lote em um cenário de vários lotes de tamanho reduzido. É preciso também garantir completo monitoramento da produção do lote, sem falhas, ou quando ocorrer uma falha, ações corretivas devem ser executadas imediatamente. As pesquisas recentes demonstram que sistemas baseados em agentes é uma abordagem promissora para o cenário da PPS. Diante disso, a contribuição desta tese é a apresentação de uma nova Arquitetura de Referência para a implementação de Sistemas Multiagente na configuração e monitoramento da Produção de Pequenas Séries. A abordagem propõe uma Arquitetura de Referência, chamada MAS4SSP, baseada em uma solução unificada, sinérgica e com alto nível de abstração. Para garantir isto, a abordagem emprega como Modelo de Referência o framework JaCaMo que segue o paradigma orientado a multiagente (MAOP). A integração com a linha de produção é realizada com o emprego da tecnologia de comunicação Web Service que é utilizada pelo Sistema Multiagente (cliente) e por um sistema SCADA baseado em aplicação Web, o ScadaBR (servidor). A interface com o usuário pode ser desenvolvida como um recurso adicional na plataforma JaCaMo, ou pode ser realizada uma integração com sistemas legados de produção (como ERP, PCP, MRP) utilizando também a tecnologia de Web Service. Além da Arquitetura de Referência a tese apresenta um Modelo Genérico de Modelagem e Implementação que serve como guia para o desenvolvedor. Esta abordagem foi instanciada em um experimento simulado no contexto de uma PPS de Placas de Circuito Impresso (PCI). Por fim, os resultados e as conclusões sobre a Arquitetura de Referência e o Modelo Genérico de Modelagem e Implementação são apresentados em conjunto com sugestões de trabalhos futuros.Abstract: Small Series Production (SSP) is a type of manufacturing characterized by a high diversity of products to be produced associated with a reduced batch sizes - possibly unitary. In this production system, the technologies employed for process setup and monitoring must prioritize production without defects, including the first item of the lot, which may be the one. Faults in this production system or defects in the product easily become the whole batch economically unfeasible. In this context, the production line should be able to monitor the process and make a quick change of the configuration to produce a new batch in a scenario of several batches with small sizes. The system should also ensure the batch production without failure or when a fault occurs, the corrective actions must be executed immediately. Recent research shows that agent-based systems are a promising approach for the SSP. The contribution of this thesis is the presentation of a new Reference Architecture for the implementation of Multi-Agent Systems to setup and monitoring Small Series Production. The approach proposes a Reference Architecture, called MAS4SSP, based on a unified, synergistic and high level of abstraction solution. To ensure this, the approach employs as a Reference Model the JaCaMo framework that follows the Multi-Agent Oriented Paradigm (MAOP). The integration with the production line is realized with the use of Web Service as communication technology between the Multi-Agent System (client) and a SCADA system - ScadaBR (server). The user interface can be developed as an additional resource in JaCaMo platform or can be an integration system with legacy production systems (such as ERP, MES, MRP) also using Web Service. Beyond the Reference Architecture, this thesis presents a Generic Modeling and Implementation Model which serves as a guide for the developer and that was instantiated in a controlled experiment - a SSP line of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). Finally, the conclusions and perspectives about the Reference Architecture and the Generic Modeling and Implementation Model are presented together with suggestions for future works